Djokovic had an extra life, Djokovic finally reaches Alcaraz

Time may pass. The years may weigh on them. And they may meet as many times as fortune pairs them, draws, draws, and tournaments , whenever or wherever, that there's something impossible for one and a guarantee for the other: if Taylor Fritz is ahead of him, Novak Djokovic smacks his lips. Nothing changes this last time, in which the Serbian displays class in New York (6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, after 3 hours 24 minutes) and the gap between them increases, as there are now eleven duels and as many victories for him, the never-ending competitor. Infinite. He's 38 years old, still pricked by pride—kisses to the spectators who were trying to unsettle him—and now, he adds another semifinal to the list.

It's already 14 in New York, sharing the record with Jimmy Connors, and it's now seven seasons in which he's managed to reach the penultimate round of the Big Four. A feat unattainable for the rest. Thus goes Djokovic's life, resigned to the fact that day by day the shadow of age is catching up with him , but not for that reason, he's surrendered. Faced with the uncontrollable, he keeps rowing and rowing, hoping that one day a final divine illumination will return and, why not, he thinks, he'll manage to grab the golden 25. Once again, it won't be easy. On Friday, Alcaraz will be on the other side of the net, well-oiled, with rhythm and, above all, eager to turn history around.

In January, in Australia, the Spaniard fell into the mental web deployed by the Balkan player , and it doesn't look like he'll make the same mistake now. Since then, the Murcian says he's matured and that at 22 years old and with a good amount of experience under his belt, he reads matches differently. His career. "I'm learning to manage a lot of things off the court, and that gives me peace of mind to compete," says the El Palmar native. He'll need it. Djokovic dominates the lead—both on aggregate (5-3) and on hard court (3-0)—and handles the labyrinthine moments like no one else, despite inevitably losing stamina.

In parallel, Alcaraz (22 years old) and Jannik Sinner (24) have imposed a dizzying pace that today, no one has been able to resist. He tried it at Roland Garros and Wimbledon , beaten on both occasions by the number one, and now faces a new opportunity in New York, where two years ago he raised his last major . Both in Paris and London he succumbed with dignity, but in both scenarios he gave off the sensation of rebutting limited by logic; his legs drag a lifetime of playing tennis - with this last one, there will be 1,387 matches in the elite - and youth does not forgive.

Anger and K-pop

In any case, he's still there, the flame still burning, trying to process the new circumstance— "I want more, but I wish I were younger" —and, once again, at the penultimate station. Faced with the constant stumbling of the others, of the young pack of contenders, the most veteran remains the only real alternative. Djokovic also hasn't lost his old habits. There's anger. And that, in his case, is a good sign. There's still hunger. The New York crowd pushes him, celebrates his service errors, and he reacts: a couple of scuffles and a request to the umpire.

"Are you going to do something?" "This isn't helping, Novak." He's hot, challenging with his gaze after a wonderful cross-court smash, almost stationary. And when the threat grows, he survives. Nole, in his element. But not without a cold sweat. Gulp, swallow. It happens after he's seemingly had the duel on track, because Fritz struggled to convert the first break point on the eleventh attempt, and after having managed to overcome that high wall, he fell all by himself: a double fault and the first set for the Serb. He also wins the second, but in the third, as the physical demands increase, he begins to falter, and the continuation translates into an hour of suspense.

The feeling prevails at the Arthur Ashe that if things drag on any longer, if they go into the fifth set, they'll lose. However, in the end, he holds his own. He lacks the strength to finish off the point in the longer rallies, but Fritz (27 years old, fourth in the world) helps again: after converting only two of the thirteen break points available to him, the Californian collapses with a double fault. Then, Djokovic sighs into the microphone and dedicates a dance to his daughter Tara, who is far away and will turn eight in just twenty minutes, at midnight. Despite the hours, he signs autographs and hurries to rest.

“She taught me how to dance to a K-pop song called Soda Pop , from the Demon Hunters [Korean animated film],” explains the Belgrade tennis player, who will have 48 hours to recover. “It was incredibly close. In these types of matches, a few balls decide the winner. I didn't feel like I dominated from the baseline; I had to fight for every ball, but in these types of situations, what matters is the victory,” he continues before retiring, not without making yet another declaration of love for his sport: “I compete with my heart on my sleeve and I give everything for tennis, every day. But I still enjoy it.”